One Below Zero
by majesticllamas
Summary: Francis is awoken by a voice he doesn't recognize. He doesn't know what's going on, or why he can't move, see, or speak. He can't remember anything. The voice suddenly is very near to him, and whispers, "Arthur sends his love." That triggers his memory, and Francis is then thrust into the memories of the week prior and relives every moment, piecing together what happened. FrUK AU.
1. Prologue

_Water. Water, water, and somehow more water. Gasps for air. Silent night stained with screams. Darkness cradling me, clutching tightly to me as I try to gulp in more and more air. I have no such luck. Sonatas of waves that freeze my soul and lull me into a disturbingly peaceful slumber._

_"What happened?" _The voice that responded was either too soft-spoken or too far away to be heard clearly.

_"Francis, I know you might not be able to hear me, but please know that everything will be okay… It'll… It'll be alright."_ There were tears in the voice, I could tell. I have a knack for that sort of thing, one might say. But who was this person speaking so close to me? I couldn't recognize the voice, nor could I see the face that accompanied said voice. Why the hell not?

Also, what on earth was this person talking about_—"It'll be alright,"_? I felt fine. Particularly numb, actually… That was new.

What seemed to be a few hours passed as I screamed internally for some kind of answer to appear in my head, or to be spoken aloud by a hopefully identifiable voice. I realized in that time that I couldn't move. Or speak. Or see. But I could hear, and I could think. And then it hit me. _Why am I here?_ _Why_ can I not function correctly and entirely? _What happened? _All memories were failing me. A voice suddenly shattered my thoughts.

_ "Arthur sends his love."_

Arthur. The name struck a chord. I knew that I knew that name. I knew it dearly. _Arthur._ The memories flooded in.


	2. Chapter 1

_ It was a particularly muddy day. The snow from the week before had finally melted, leaving the ground soft and painfully free of grass. It wasn't that I minded the mud, necessarily—it was just the fact that my dog absolutely loved it. On good days, when it was muddy and I had patience, I would take her to the nearest park and let her just happily wallow in the filth, brown mingling with brown, usually playing a rather messy game of Frisbee towards the end of the day._

_ Today was that kind of day. I'd dressed accordingly, adorning myself in the most raggedy clothing I possessed as to not make too much of a mess of myself, which was difficult, because all of my clothes were rather nice. Mud-stained shoes that went up to my upper calves were snuggled onto my feet, dreading what was to come, painfully used to the routine._

_ The naming of my dog was a truthfully strange event, and if someone were to just see her, they would not comprehend her name at all. She is a wonderful shade of brown, almost the shade of fresh soil. I found her outside in my yard, covered in snow one day. She was so cold that the snow wouldn't melt, so for the longest time I thought she was completely white. I named her then and there. I called her Sugar. A few moments after taking her in, I realized what a mistake I'd made in giving her that particular name. But I still felt that it fit her immediately loving nature, so I kept it._

_ "Sugar," I called loudly and excitedly, and she bounded excitedly towards me, knowing what I had in store for her. She bounced up and placed the large pads of her feet onto my chest, nearly reaching my shoulders. This was why I liked big dogs—they could more easily show affection. I started grunting and growling—smiling and gesturing frantically, easily exciting her to the point where she was spinning in circles next to the front door. I decided that I'd teased her enough, clipped on her leash, and opened the door._

_ The rush of light that greeted me was truly astounding. For the past few days it'd been cloudy and much below freezing, the snow solidifying further from fluff to a concrete-like state. But today it was sunny and much warmer than usual. Which meant the snow was gone and all that remained was mud, mud, and more mud. It was still brisk and somewhat chilly, but it was better than what I was used to, by far._

_ The shining sun splashed its rays down into my face and all throughout my golden hair. I breathed in the crisp air, allowing a smile to splay upon my lips. Today would be good. I could feel it._

_ Sugar of course kept with my leisurely pace, though I was most certain that she was barking both angrily and maniacally in her mind with anticipation for the impending filth. She showed no sign, however—sniffing politely at all of the people whom I enchanted as they crossed my path. I couldn't help it, really… I was just a natural charmer. None of them were very truly _interesting,_ however._

_ As we finally made our way to the familiar park, Sugar almost dragged me down to the ground because she bolted so abruptly. I quickly unhooked her leash, and of course, off she went. I laughed somewhat audibly to myself at her joy. Why couldn't I be that happy? The laugh became sad and contrite. _

_ I wandered over to a dilapidated bench and sat down elegantly, even though my mind was now swimming with thoughts of my inner melancholy. I had nothing to live for, really. What was the point? I couldn't see one. I looked yearningly toward Sugar, who was rolling around joyfully, happily making high pitched barking noises at the few other dogs that were roaming about on leashes. She was so happy. She didn't have to worry about finding someone special. Dogs are not monogamous. Even though I've been labeled as a sex addict before, inside of me I truly believe that I am a completely committed and monogamous person. _

_ I sighed fairly loudly, trying to release all of the built up sadness within me, but it just wouldn't vacate. The worn down bench was strangely comforting. It was withered and broken as well. I closed my eyes, listening absentmindedly and jealously to the happy noises Sugar was making, and managed to fall asleep right then and there. I had a habit of doing that... _

_I dreamed of being happy. Truly happy._

_ "Hey," a voice said unpleasantly. I felt myself being shaken violently. My eyes fluttered open, revealing a dark sky and the lamps in the park streaming lovely rays of light everywhere. _

_ Soft specks of dust floated mindlessly in the illumination as I moved my gaze over to the figure that had suddenly ceased shaking me. I looked up, and the sight that I met with was dumbfounding, to say the least. The lamplight spilled deeply into the most unfathomable green irises I had ever seen in my life. This person blinked languidly, tickling my vertebrae with that single involuntary movement. They reopened. The way that the brilliance around us bounded forward into this person's eyes and exploded into fireworks of complete vivacity captivated me in whole._

_ I think at that time my heart skipped one single beat._


	3. Chapter 2

_Their eyes stared down into mine, and their expression transformed entirely. At first the disposition of this person was angry and annoyed, but now it was something more along the lines of curious and wondering. Hands were still closed on to my shoulders, but the grip had significantly loosened. After a few seconds of simply staring into one another's eyes, they suddenly shifted their gaze downward, stepped back a few feet, and blushed in an obvious manner._

_ "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" It was a man's voice. "It's freezing out here—are you dense? Or just homeless?" The man shoved his hands into his pockets as to relieve them of the absent heat my shoulders had given off._

_ "I should be asking you the same thing. No, I'm not homeless," I said softly, sitting up more properly. "And I'm also not stupid either. I must have just dozed off, that's all." My voice was a whisper, still obviously in shock from his eyes. It lacked the cruelty that my words gave off._

_ "Well," he said, looking away from me. "You could have died or something. Frostbite and such… Or you could have been mugged."_

_ "I think frostbite takes days to fully take effect. Also, I don't really have anything of value on me at the moment, so it wouldn't really matter." That's when I remembered why I was here in the first place. "Say, have you happened to have seen a dog around here? Large in size, long brown—nearly black—fur? Generally found gallivanting in mud?"_

_ "N-no… I haven't." he said with a suspicious look on his face. "Why, exactly?"_

_ "_Shit," _I said, throwing myself upward into standing position and hitting myself in the head once with both of my arms. "I'm such an idiot. I fall asleep here like a moron and my dog with no leash figures she should run off. Perfection." My voice continually grew louder, until I was shouting the last word. By this time I was pacing around in a small circle, not even really taking notice to the stranger any more._

_ "Hey," he quietly. I didn't hear him. He spoke louder, shouted, even, "_Hey." _I froze where I was. The overwhelming rush of déjà vu flooded through my arteries and veins, throbbing against and singing every capillary. He'd sounded just like that when he'd tried to awaken me. I turned to him and looked sincerely into his gleaming eyes for the second time on this night. _

_ "So, tell me, why 'Sugar,' again?" _

_ "For the last time," I told him, laughing and rolling my eyes. "I thought she had white fur! And once I found that to be false, the name had already stuck."_

_ We were walking throughout the whole park, which was really quite large. He had demanded me to calm down and told me that we would look for her, and I had agreed. We'd been walking and talking for about forty-five minutes when the stars suddenly shone brighter than usual. I stopped, looked up, and was struck by the sudden vivacity of the night sky. _

_ I was too stunted to gesture or tell my new friend to look up, but he seemed to possess the same sense that I had just gotten. I slowly peeled my eyes from the sky and looked to see his face peering happily and curiously into the never-ending obscurity. _

_ Abruptly, he spoke. "Doesn't looking at the sky make you feel amazing?" He walked from the small sidewalk and into the moist grass. He lay down as if he were going to make a snow angel—completely spread out, but was still. He just looked up. "Come and see."_

_ I was uncertain, but walked forward and hesitantly sat next to him._

_ "Lay down. Look up. Then describe to me exactly the way that you feel."_

_ I looked to him as he looked to me with pleading eyes and an expression that seemed like I should trust. I shut my eyes and lay down as he sat upright and watched me. After a few seconds of lying there, he said, "Open them," and I did._

_ The lights clustered together at first, but soon evened out and became individually defined. I was at once filled with an overwhelming sense of dread as my eyes opened wider and wider. I felt infinitely alone. All I had was Sugar, and she left because I was a horrible owner. I was meaningless—served no purpose. As a human being, I felt exceptionally and utterly tiny and substantially infinitesimal. At that very moment, all of my thoughts from before came rushing back in a torrent, and the thing that I wanted the most in the world was to die. Tears began to well in my eyes as my body began to quake with unending hopelessness. _

_ "I—what happened? What's wrong?" he was beyond frightened and worried for me. I felt terrible for his sake…and my own._

_ I couldn't answer him. I did not want any other person on the planet to know what I was feeling at the moment. I would not with this pain unto my worst enemy. I just curled into a ball and sobbed, the cries varying between very loud and near whimpers._

_ He was extremely troubled by now "I—I'm sorry, I didn't think that would have such an effect on you… I just…" he was very flustered. "You are coming to my house since I can't get you to talk and I don't know where you live, alright?" His breathing was rapid and he was talking fast._

_ Through my sobs and mild paralysis, I managed a nod. He calmed down significantly, knowing that he wasn't kidnapping me._

_ He lifted me and put my arm around his shoulders so he could support me and lead me. I still had to do a lot of walking, but it was better than being alone. As we neared the exit of the park, I muttered, "Sugar," quietly._

_ He looked to me with large sad eyes and nodded. "We'll look more tomorrow." And with that I gave a sigh of relief and walked forward blindly with my arm over this remarkable man with striking eyes and an even more dazzling personality._

_ I was gently placed on a soft couch in a place that I did not know, other than it was owned by this man. My eyes slid shut as he turned on a table lamp next to the couch, lifted my upper body, sat down, and placed me gently back down into his lap._

_ I opened my eyes briefly to see sparkly green ponds looking down into me adoringly. Not at me, like everyone else. Into me. Into my soul—into my every crevice and crack of my being, and actually enjoying what he saw._

_ My eyelids painfully struggled downward, me telling them not to, but another part of my brain telling them that they must. Alas, despite my eyes closing, my breath still managed to hitch in my throat and my heart still skipped a beat yet again. _


End file.
